Toys”R”Us is alive and well! At least in Canada. But if you’re thinking of shopping the online store and reliving your childhood, think again. You can browse the store which looks exactly the same as the USA site did, however unfortunately you cannot purchase without a Canada “ship to” address. I assume it was part of their acquisition deal that happened in June 2018.

Toys”R”Us (Canada) Ltd. announces the completion of the acquisition of its business by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. Toys R Us Canada is now a proudly Canadian-owned and operated business employing more than 4,000 Canadians and Canada’s only exclusive coast to coast business with over 80 locations dedicated to kids and babies across Canada.

As Canada’s leading toy and baby retailer, we are thrilled to be part of the Fairfax family and to now operate as a reinvigorated company that is 100% Canadian. I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our valued customers for their loyalty with us over the last several months. We are passionate about our business and want Canadians to know that we are champions of play with the newest trends and hottest toys in our stores. We believe that parenting is an adventure and Babies“R”Us Canada will be there along the journey to help parents.

While there are talks of a promised spin-off of Toys”R”Us in the works even as soon as next month, it is unknown if it will be open in time for the Holiday shopping season. I know I am hoping for that “Big Toy Book” to be put in my mailbox the week leading up to black friday as it has every year prior. Will it happen? When we do not really have a definitive answer at this time.

What we do know, is there is hope that we will once again walk the aisle’s of a child’s dream store, and be able to see, touch, and feel the toys which is what separates it from all of the large online retailers like Amazon, and nothing can compare to that. If anything, it sure looks promising.

Comicbook.com posted that there were reps from the new company at the Toy Preview 2018 in Dallas, including Geoffrey himself boasting a “Back from Vacation” cape;

Full Press Release below;

WAYNE, NJ – October 2, 2018 – Geoffrey, LLC, Toys “R” Us, Inc.’s intellectual property holding company subsidiary, announced today that it is moving forward with a plan for substantially all of its assets to be acquired by a group of investors led by Geoffrey, LLC’s existing secured lenders.

The announcement was made following a five month marketing effort by Boston-based Consensus, an investment bank retained to market the assets of Geoffrey, LLC, that resulted in several formal and informal proposals to acquire the intellectual property assets. After considering such proposals, it was determined that the proposal from the existing term lenders was meaningfully higher and better than any other global bid or the sum of the bids received on individual assets. The transition of the business to its new owners is pending approval of the United States Bankruptcy Court and all major creditor constituencies are supportive. Geoffrey, LLC thanks all parties that participated in discussions with the company over the prior months, particularly those that submitted proposals, for their thoughtful and diligent engagement.

Geoffrey, LLC, as reorganized, will control a portfolio of intellectual property that includes trademarks, ecommerce assets and data associated with the Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us businesses in the United States and all over the world, including a portfolio of over 20 well-known toy and baby brands such as Imaginarium, Koala Baby, Fastlane and Journey Girls. The reorganized company will own rights to the Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us brands in all markets globally, with the exception of Canada. It will also become the licensor of the brands to the company’s existing network of franchisees operating in countries across Asia, Europe and the Middle East, and in South Africa.

In addition to continuing to service these markets, the new owners are actively working with potential partners to develop ideas for new Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us stores in the United States and abroad that could bring back these iconic brands in a new and re-imagined way. Geoffrey LLC will provide additional detail on this front as it becomes available.

For now, you can check out all of the other retailers who attended Fall Toy Preview and are very much open for business this holiday season.

Starting today through 10/30, Cricut is launching the Halloween flash sale! This sale features 50% off materials, accessories, and more. In addition to this, Cricut is featuring great machine deals such as EasyPress for $139.99, Maker bundles for $379.99, and Explore family bundles starting at $279.99. Be sure to tell your readers to take advantage of these great offers before they end.

Cricut.com is offering Free Economy Shipping on orders $99+. Use code FREEOCT. Here are some of the best deals!

I always loved this movie as a child and am so excited that they are releasing a new one!

In Disney’s MARY POPPINS RETURNS, an all-new original musical and sequel, Mary Poppins is back to help the next generation of the Banks family find the joy and wonder missing in their lives following a personal loss. Emily Blunt stars as the practically-perfect nanny with unique magical skills who can turn any ordinary task into an unforgettable, fantastic adventure and Lin-Manuel Miranda plays her friend Jack, an optimistic street lamplighter who helps bring light—and life—to the streets ofLondon.

MARY POPPINS RETURNS arrives in theatres everywhere on December 19th! Here is a Special Look for my readers!

MARY POPPINS RETURNS is directed by Rob Marshall. The screenplay is by David Magee and the screen story is by Magee & Rob Marshall & John DeLuca based upon the Mary Poppins Stories by PL Travers. The producers are John DeLuca, p.g.a., Rob Marshall, p.g.a. and Marc Platt, p.g.a. with Callum McDougall serving as executive producer. The music score is by Marc Shaiman and the film features all new original songs with music by Shaiman and lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman. The film also stars Ben Whishaw as Michael Banks; Emily Mortimer as Jane Banks; Julie Walters as the Banks’ housekeeper Ellen; Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and introducing Joel Dawson as the Banks’ children, with Colin Firth as Fidelity Fiduciary Bank’s William Weatherall Wilkins; and Meryl Streep as Mary’s eccentric cousin, Topsy. Angela Lansbury appears as the Balloon Lady, a treasured character from the PL Travers books and Dick Van Dyke is Mr. Dawes, Jr., the retired chairman of the bank now run by Firth’s character.

Enjoy the health and mindfulness benefits of aromatherapy with Utama Spice products!

I received the above pictured products to review from Utama Spice all natural aromatherapy and share my experience with you all. I am also giving away a diffuser, so stay tuned until the end to enter! Giveaway includes ONE Sonoma Yi Luxury Diffuser LED Lamp;

Elegant, clean design a perfect complement for the home, studio, spa, or salon

Natural wood base, pure-white ceramic lid

Retail value $39.99

I have dabbled with different essential oils and am a huge fan of tea tree oil to heal almost anything. So when I was asked to check these out, of course I agreed although I had never heard of Utama Spice company before.

They have so many products, it’s amazing! From organic bug sprays, to lotions, oils, shampoos, and chapsticks. Do yourself a favor and check out their store. They also do giveaways each month, and they’re pretty awesome packages you can win directly from their website.

A slightly medicinal smelling oil that carries a fruity camphor aroma with hyacinth and herbaceous undertones. Properties include antimicrobial, astringent, analgesic, stimulant, and anti-inflammatory, and as a natural bug repellent.

Cajeput has great value in skin care and wound cleansing, stimulates the mind and assists with getting back into balance. Its antiseptic and expectorant properties make it excellent for respiratory tract infections such as colds, laryngitis, bronchitis and it may be helpful for asthma, as well as nasal and sinus congestion.

Pain relieving properties make it useful in massage for neuralgia, headaches, muscle stiffness and general aches and pains. The oil is also reputed to have insect repellent qualities and can be applied to sooth insect bites.

A sweet warm scent and very intense flavor. Clove oil is known to provide potent antiseptic and anti-inflammatory benefits and is a preservative when used in all-natural products.

Clove can be applied topically to irritated skin, combined with Coconut or Argan oil to create an aromatherapy massage oil, or mixed in other products to enhance their benefits. Clove oil can be used with a diffuser to sooth respiratory illnesses, relieve stress and treat headaches.

All of their essential oil’s are 10ml. You can buy them in sets of 5 for $34.99 or single bottles at $14.99 AND they’re currently running a special, if you buy 5, you get a FREE Diffuser! How is that for getting a bargain?

Next up is the Yoga Mat Spray ($9.99 MSRP) comes in a 100ml bottle. There are 3 varieties to choose from but I was sent to Lavender which I love. It is such a relaxing fragrance. Although I am not a “yogi” I like to spray it around the house creating a calming environment.

“The missing link to achieve the perfect end to your practice. With just a few simple sprays you can sterilize your mat and bring on inner peace”

I also tested out the “Supa Dupa” Moon Flower incense and whoa are they nice and big! I hate getting incense and they burn so quick and done. These are huge! They burn very slow and are very aromatic. I was impressed by how long they were as well. They come in a really nice box too!

I got the 12 long sticks, which is $12.99 but they have a smaller option where you can get 6 for $6.99 as well.

Utama Spice’s natural incense sticks are all created using locally sourced spices and herbs. Lovingly hand rolled in Bali the incense is dipped in pure essential oil making these incense one of the most lovely smelling natural dupa sticks

“This long burning incense is a blend of flowers, barks, herbs, oils, nuts and spices using no synthetic or endangered plants. Wrapped in recycled paper. Handmade with Fair Trade and Tri Hita Karana principles.”

Lastly and most important, the Sonoma Yi Diffuser. This is the one I am GIVING AWAY to one of you lucky readers! You can pick up some oils for it in the Utama store or use any you currently have (although I have to say, that you SHOULD definitely check out some from Utima as they are high quality and so many to choose from).

Not only is it a Luxury ultrasonic diffuser, it is also an air humidifier and attractive LED lamp.

Elegant, clean design a perfect complement for the home, studio, spa, or salon.

The holidays alre coming and custom gifts are always a favorite from the creator and the receiver. There are many different custom companies out there to choose a custom gift from like canvas companies and Etsy.

So how do you choose one that is right for you?

If you’re like me, you want the best service to be sure your product comes out exactly like you envision it. That’s one of the hard parts about ordering online is you’re dealing with a computer program in most cases instead of a human being who actually cares about how your order turns out.

That is one of the biggest upsides of The Canvas Factory and it separates them from all of the others.

I know from personal experience that they will make sure your custom item comes out no less than perfect.

Most of us take our most important photos with outlr cell phones and do not own an expensive professional camera, or even those who do, sometimes you do not have that camera on you when a special time happens and you find yourself using your cell phone anyway to capture that special moment.

I wanted to see if they could make a larger canvas out of my cell phone photo come out just as if I had taken it with a professional camera or if they’d be like the others and just let me upload a sub-par photo that would come out blurry, yell at me that it isn’t great quality and ask if I still want to continue placing my crappy photo order just so they can get the money for my order.

Well to my surprise, I uploaded a photo from Facebook, a photo of me and my siblings that I love, but the quality was not very good due to the size even though I had changed it into the recommended size in the paint program to try and force it through… it went through.

However! I was contacted within 24 hours by a real person via email stating that they are working on my order and they found it to be more blurry than I’d probably like.

They actually attached 2 photos to the email as well to specify why they didn’t think the quality would be good and even though I still told them to put it through, they asked one last time because it was that important to them that they provide a quality product.

They explained to me that using a photo from new cell phones was perfectly fine in most cases as the cameras on the phones were actually almost equal to the correct size they needed, however that when uploading that same photo from the cell phone to a picture saving website or to Facebook drastically reduces the size of the photo by the program which reduces the pixels and quality for printing which I did not realize since to me the photo looks the same quality when I view it in Facebook.

Wow. What amazing service, seriously!

I was able to provide a different photo for them to use via the email they sent, directly from my cell phone, in which they showed me what the quality of the end result would be and I was happy with it.

Within 4 days (standard shipping) I received the package. Here is how it shipped to me;

I couldn’t wait to see how this turned out as I wanted to give this canvas as a gift to my mother and it was an important picture to me.

Here is the final result! What do you think?

I LOVE how this came out.

Even the back is different then others. Much more study and closed in.

And you are in luck! The Canvas Factory stands by their mission statement “We want to make online photo printing easy and affordable for everyone.” and want you to see for yourself so they asked me to do a GIVEAWAY for my readers!

The winner will be able to create their own custom canvas in the standard size of their choosing – 50x40cm (20×16 inch) amounting of $32.25 value OR 18x12inch (45x30cm) amounting of $24.50 value both will include FREE SHIPPING as well.

Take note this giveaway offer is open only for USA and Canada residents.

DiaResQ is a NEW Natural Approach That Comes to the Rescue!
Think of all the times that you are running errands and need to eat something quickly that doesn’t agree with you later! Next time when you feel the signs of diarrhea, you can reach for a product that really works! DiaResQ is a food, not a drug, made from naturally derived ingredients to provide rapid indigestion relief.

How Does DiaResQ Work?
DiaResQ works with your body to support digestive health and restore normal intestinal function. It features an innovative combination of immune factors and important nutritional components. Plus, it is safe for children as young as one year in age. Besides being handy to have at home, it’s the perfect companion to take on trips near and far!

How is DiaResQ Different?
Many diarrhea relief products alleviate the symptoms by interfering with your body’s natural immune response when you eat something that doesn’t agree with you. DiaResQ is different because it works with your body’s natural defenses to support digestive health by delivering micronutrients, macronutrients, and immune factors to get you back to normal in no time!

All aboard! Thomas the Train has been around since I was a child. It was Thomas and Barney that captured the hearts of children everywhere and was a must watch daily.

“Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! The Series” made its debut on September 17th. This all-new redeveloped series comes with exciting new features, from new locations and a gender-inclusive Steam Team, to new formatting seeing Thomas breaking the fourth wall, speaking directly to the audience and inviting kids along for the adventures!

Throughout the years, Thomas has been able to sustain its growth and stay relevant so why would anything change? In a new age where everything is out in the open and children are learning earlier in life about their part in their future, Thomas will be there to guide them along.

The series is also about to get serious about female empowerment as they welcome a new engine all the way from Kenya named Nia, who is the absolute equal of Thomas the Tank Engine and the other male engines populating the Island of Sodor.

She’s independent, a great problem solver and fast learner, who is also a real optimist with a great sense of fun.

As a parent, Actress Olivia Wilde is “on board” with everything Thomas is standing for along with the United Nations sustainable development goals that have been worked into the show.

Additionally, along with the revamped series comes new music and an all new theme song that little engineers are sure to love. The new music is now streaming on Spotify.

My 6 year old son has been what I call “past the Thomas phase” for a couple of years now and onto the stuff his older brother is doing. Verbatim he told me “Thomas is for babies” when I asked if he’d like to check out the new Thomas the Train series and movie.

I explained to him that it changed a bit and that he should give it a try. Not only does it have some cool stories but it’s on Nick Jr. now! He agreed to check it out and that was that.

There are many new catchy songs which is much different than the old format. This certainly helps to keep kids engaged and wanting to know what happens next!

He immediately fell into his Thomas the Train obsession and wanted to pull out his Thomas the Train toys to play with where collected many over the years and they’ve collected dust but I’m happy to pull them back out if they’ll get some 6 year old lovin’!

There are some awesome NEW Thomas toys out as well that play more into the new themes like this Jungle Set my son cannot get enough of. His laugh says it all..